Haunted Trees

The Haunted Trees are characters from the Haunted Mansion attraction at the Disney Parks.

History[]

Background[]

These trees are comprised of seven individual trees with faces carved on them to resemble humanoid-like trees. Each tree is carved with a face shown with a wailing expression, albeit each having a pair of empty sockets in their eyes and their branches which were made to resemble arms. Given the fact that each of them is carved with a face could show that they are anthropomorphic trees possessing some form of spirit.

Development[]

In the blueprints for the attraction, the trees were referred to as "Mechanical Trees", hinting that the trees were going to be animatronics where they would face the guests riding on Doom Buggies escaping the Gracey Manor and that they would scare them like what the other trees did in Snow White's Scary Adventures. However, the animatronic effect used for the trees was scrapped for unknown reasons, leaving the trees static.^[1]

Appearances[]

The Haunted Mansion[]

Seven haunted trees are encountered in the Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland versions of the attraction in the scene where the guests riding on Doom Buggies escape from the attic at the Haunted Mansion. The trees stare at guests as they attempt to scare them, albeit in static form where a raven perched on one of the trees ominously caws at guests passing by the trees just before arriving at the graveyard.

Haunted Mansion Holiday[]

One of the trees in the seasonal overlay is decorated with Halloween-themed Christmas lights on it while the Vampire Teddy chews on them.

Other Appearances[]

Disneyland Fun/Let's Go to Disneyland Paris[]

The haunted trees appear in the "Grim Grinning Ghosts" segment during a fantasy sequence where they are seen dancing with various Disney Villains and Donald Duck dressed as a ghost in Disneyland Fun during nighttime. Throughout the sequence, the trees dance with the other Villains and Donald just before the villains and Donald disappear and the trees turn static again.

In Let's Go to Disneyland Paris, the haunted trees appear during a fantasy sequence during the "Grim Grinning Ghosts" segment. The Phantom is the one who brought the haunted trees to life where they dance along with him while other Disney Villains join in, albeit in Phantom Manor instead. Throughout the sequence, Donald who is dressed as a ghost scares away the trees and the other villains (including the Phantom and the Bride), causing the trees to return to the spot where they become static again.

Haunted Mansion (2023)[]

The haunted trees appear in the 2023 reboot of the 2003 film adaptation of the attraction where they only make a brief appearance in one scene. During the part where Ben Matthias and Travis find a way out of the mansion via ceiling after being trapped in the Stretching Room, they escape with Father Kent riding his car where they find themselves in a haunted forest. As they pass through the forest, they are ambushed by several trees that come to life and start attacking them in an ambush. As they angrily stare at the car, the trees suddenly use their own branches to smash the three who are in the car, which the three suddenly escape from the trees in time. They do not make any further appearances afterwards.

Trivia[]

The trees have a striking resemblance to the Scary Trees from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as well as the ones featured in Snow White's Scary Adventures, an attraction inspired by the film.
The trees that appear during the "Grim Grinning Ghosts" segment in Disneyland Fun/Let's Go to Disneyland Paris are actually reused costumes of the trees used in the 50th anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1987, which can imply that the trees featured in said segment are a combination between the ones from the Snow White and The Haunted Mansion franchises respectively.
- Coincidentally, the Evil Queen in her hag form took part in the segment dancing with said trees.